Top critic
NDTV
Film review ·
Pinneyum is clearly the work of a maestro who has nothing to prove: undemonstrative but staggeringly impactful.


Strong performances can't rescue a sentimental, narratively thin Adoor outing.
Verdict tier Mixed, lukewarm or divided, on a scale of Unfavorable, Mixed, Recommended, Exceptional.
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Critic consensus
Critical reception for Pinneyum is largely mixed to negative, with only one reviewer offering strong praise, describing it as the work of a maestro with staggering impact. Where positive notes exist, they center on the performances of Dileep, Kavya Madhavan, and veteran supporting actors. However, a majority of critics found the film to be emotionally overwrought, narratively ineffective, and lacking the depth and intensity associated with director Adoor Gopalakrishnan's earlier classics. Several reviewers specifically criticized it as a weak and sentimental retread of familiar themes.
2 not-rated reviews aren't plotted
Positive = 6.5/10 and up · negative = below 5/10
AI-generated summary of 6 critic reviews · may contain errors
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Top critics first, then by score · not-rated last · updated
Top critic
Film review ·
Pinneyum is clearly the work of a maestro who has nothing to prove: undemonstrative but staggeringly impactful.
Film review ·
Pinneyum ends up as unintentionally funny and inane to the core. It's better if this one is forgotten as a bad dream.
Film review ·
Dileep and Kavya Madhavan present subtle performances and can be considered the only saving factors of the film. Nedumudi Venu, Vijayaraghavan and Indrans also do their parts well. However, with regard to the two teenage actors in the movie, the less said, the better. There is nothing incomprehensible to a lay viewer in Pinneyum, but the intensity and sub-texts one looks forward to is also missing.
Film review ·
On retrospect, 'Pinneyum' strikes us as little more than a sentimental pile of overworked emotions. Clearly not a film that one would expect of Adoor, it's an ineffective reformulation of a familiar theme that gets lost between cinematic genres.
Film review ·
Pinneyum is certainly not Adoor's best visual expedition, but like his earlier works, the film tries to explore the human psyche through a very ordinary narrative technique.
Film review ·
Pinneyum is almost an anachronism in 2016 and lacks everything that makes his old classics an engaging watch even today.
Credits
DileepPurushothaman Nair
Kavya MadhavanDevi
Subodh BhavePurushothaman Nair
Nedumudi VenuPappu Pilla
NandhuKurup
SrindaSharada
Vijayaraghavan
Indrans
K. P. A. C. Lalitha
Akshara KishorMalayalam films like Pinneyum